LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Your Name: Krysta Jenkins

Title of Lesson: The Importance of Ecosystems
Grade: 3rd
STANDARDS
Arizona State Social Studies Standards
Concept 4: Rights, Responsibilities, and Roles of Citizenship

Next Generation Science Standards

3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changed and the types of plants
and animals that live there may change.

LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIE
Student will construct a full ecosystem. Each student will choose their own living and nonliving aspects of an
ecosystem and how the parts interact. Students will also be responsible for explaining how energy flows
though the ecosystem. The teacher will give students a situation of human involvement in an ecosystem and
the students will need to come up with a way to help counter the negative effects. Finally, students will
present their ecosystem to the class.
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to label parts of an ecosystem.
Students will be able to put living and nonliving elements together to construct an ecosystem.
Students will be able to use Futures Thinking to come up with ways to help sustain ecosystems.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
28 out of 34 students will demonstrate a full understanding of an ecosystem and human involvement in
ecosystems by presenting an ecosystem fully constructed by the student .
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
Students need to know what an ecosystem is.
Students will need to know how energy flows through an ecosystem.
Students will need to know what coupled human and environment system means
Students will need to have an understanding of how humans are currently trying to sustain ecosystems.
Students will need to know what parts make up an ecosystem.
MATERIALS
Crayons
Glue
Paper
Textbook
List of negative human involvement in ecosystems
Scissors
Stickers of living and nonliving elements
VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS
Ecosystem
Energy
Abiotic Factor
Biotic Factor
Habitat
Niche
Population
Food Chain
Extinct
TEACHING PROCEDURES
1. The teacher will reintroduce the concept of an ecosystem.
2. The students will raise their hand to share what they have learned about ecosystems in the past four
days.
3. The teacher will pass out textbooks and instruct student to open to the Chapter that covers
ecosystems.
4. Students will share any new information they remember.

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Once the students have shared information about ecosystems, the teacher will explain the days
activity.
The teacher will tell students that they are going to be responsible for constructing an ecosystem.
Today, we are going to be constructing our own ecosystems. Each student will make their own
ecosystem. You will choose your own animals and nonliving factors in the ecosystem. But, you have
to make sure there is a substantial flow of energy and you must label with arrows how the energy
flows.
Time will be given for student to ask any questions.
Then the teacher will continue. Once you have constructed a full ecosystem, I will pass out a short
description of an example of a negative interaction between humans and an ecosystem. There will be
examples of too much trash in an ecosystem, over hunting animals with fur, or drilling for resources.
Your job will be to brainstorm possible actions that could be taken to help counter these actions.
Allow more time for students to ask questions.
Teacher will hand out crayons, glue, stickers, and paper.
The teacher will reiterate the requirements for the ecosystems, You will need to choose an
environment for the animals and nonliving parts of the ecosystem to living in, how energy flows
through the ecosystem, and then write a small note about how you would counter the negative effect I
pass out. You can me questions, use your book, and you can take turns using information on the
computer if you need to.
Students will work on their projects while the teacher walks around to answer questions and passes
out the human involvement cards.
Once students have finished, students can start presenting their ecosystems.
Students will turn in their projects and we will have a short discussion about what the students
learned.
RESOURCES

http://quizlet.com/8122968/ecosystem-flash-cards-flash-cards/
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION

Futures Thinking is a skill students should learn. The skill involves evaluating our present actions
to understand what our actions will cause in the future. Students should be able to think about
changing their actions now to help make a better future. Students will use Futures Thinking in the
lesson plan. Students will develop a realistic environment that could help save ecosystems. The
lesson plan will ask students to think about what actions could be taken to create a positive
environment for humans and ecosystems to thrive together. I want students to think of realistic
ways that humans can help ecosystems. Also, students can and should use current techniques in
use that are in place today. By encouraging students to make an ideal ecosystem, students will need
to think of tools, processes, and laws that could possible help the future of ecosystems.